Quantum entangled states, illustration. Two beryllium ions being used as quantum bits (qubits) to store quantum information, with two partner magnesium ions, which were cooled with three ultraviolet laser beams to release heat. This experiment demonstrated the dissipative production of entangled states. Selected, unwanted quantum information was deliberately lost to the environment to maintain the quantum entanglement of the system. This process has applications in quantum computing. This research was carried out by scientists from the University of Copenhagen and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). Image published in 2013.